When it ca to promoting film and television projects aid at a younger audience, Disney was Hollywood's undisputed champion.
Miley Cyrus, for instance, was involved in promoting "Twilight" while also gearing up for her own Disney film, "Hannah Montana," set for release next spring.
The target audience for "Twilight" overlapped significantly with that of "Hannah Montana," making it a perfect opportunity to piggyback on the vampire film's buzz.
Disney had also invited Matthew to make a cao appearance in the upcoming "Hannah Montana" movie. It wasn't a large role, just a brief appearance.
Given his increasingly close relationship with Disney, Matthew accepted the offer. The film was a typical Disney production—fast-paced and designed for a quick release—so his cao could be fild in a single day.
On Saturday, along with the box office numbers, Matthew also received the audience demographic data.
Of the audience that contributed to "Twilight's" $41.2 million opening day, nearly eighty percent were female, and sixty-five percent were under the age of twenty-five.
The data confird that their market segntation strategy for advertising and marketing had been spot on.
Even the most cynical critics had to concede that the film was perfectly tailored for teenage girls.
Roger Ebert noted in his column for the Chicago Sun-Tis:
"'Twilight' is a cliché-ridden, emotionally vacant film—little more than a 'vampire ets high school romance' premise wrapped in a story about human feelings. The so-called 'love' in this film is lifeless, filled with long, tedious shots of pretty faces, shoddy production values, a plodding plot, and breathless, incoherent dialogue. But it’s the best movie for teenagers I’ve seen in a long ti!"
And so, while many adults had yet to even hear of "Twilight," it had already exploded into a phenonon. The novel was a hit, and the movie was an even bigger one.
In an interview with a reporter, Matthew not only voiced his support for the film but also praised the novel. "yer's lush descriptions and elegant prose spark the reader's imagination. The story, a blend of reality and fantasy with its whimsical plot twists, makes you want to keep turning the pages."
"yer's depiction of adolescent turmoil and the protagonist's tangled emotions is particularly truthful and nuanced," he added. "It resonates with readers and truly makes their hearts flutter."
It was the quintessential fan-driven series, and the existing novels provided a solid, built-in audience for any future sequels.
When the topic shifted to the film itself, Matthew gestured to Lily Collins, who was accompanying him at the press event, bringing her forward to speak.
"Every girl dreams of either a Prince Charming—tall, strong, handso, and cheerful—or a brooding, cool, and captivatingly mysterious guy."
Though she had a sowhat unassuming deanor, Lily ca from a good family and had experience as a host for Nickelodeon, speaking with confidence:
"And in the eyes of today's teenage girls, Prince Charming feels a bit outdated. A tall, cool, mysterious guy is much more in line with their fantasies—and what embodies that more than a vampire?"
However, once the interview was over and she was walking away from the press with Matthew, she whispered to him, "I don't actually like vampires at all."
During the announcent that followed, Matthew officially inford the public that Sofia Coppola and Stephenie yer would be handling the screen adaptations for the next two installnts, "New Moon" and "Eclipse." He also confird that his production company would continue its partnership with Skydance Pictures to bring the second and third parts of the "Twilight" saga to the big screen.
And that wasn't all. The two companies planned to adapt the entire four-book series, mirroring the complete narrative arc of the original novels.
As you can imagine, this news was a huge thrill for fans of the source material. Many book lovers who had flocked to the cinema began writing and blogging about it imdiately.
However, as more people saw "Twilight," the word-of-mouth buzz began to plumt—not just among critics and industry professionals, but among the general audience as well.
As everyone knows, great word-of-mouth doesn't always translate to high box office numbers, and conversely, a box office smash doesn't necessarily an the film has a good reputation.
Nearly 20,000 IMDB users gave the film a remarkably low average score of 5.4. A Yahoo poll of thirteen dia outlets resulted in a cumulative C grade, while CinemaScore, which surveys theater audiences, gave it only a B.
All signs pointed to "Twilight" having poor box office legs.
But the box office numbers told a different story.
In reality, a significant portion of the audience rated "Twilight" very highly.
The CinemaScore ratings revealed a stark polarization: thirty-seven percent of viewers gave the film an "A," while over forty percent gave it a "C" or lower. The male audience gave it an average grade of D-, while the female audience gave it an A. Among viewers under eighteen, boys rated it a D, and girls gave it a resounding A .
This was all perfectly in line with Matthew's expectations for "Twilight"—a critically panned film that would make a fortune at the box office.
This type of film was always front-loaded, with a massive opening weekend.
After the initial wave of enthusiasm from die-hard fans and teenage viewers crested on Friday, the "Twilight" fever began to break.
Typically, a Hollywood film's Saturday box office is higher than Friday's, or at worst, sees only a slight dip. "Twilight," however, was a different beast entirely. Its Saturday take plumted by forty-one percent from Friday, bringing in just $24.3 million.
On Sunday, the box office continued its freefall, dropping by more than forty percent again to a daily total of $14.1 million.
David was stunned.
"Matthew!" David exclaid, pacing around their rented office in Century City. "This 'Twilight' fever is burning out fast."
Matthew, looking perfectly relaxed, leaned back in his chair. "It's been one weekend, and the dostic box office has already doubled our production budget. What more could you want?"
David shook his head. A trend like this ant the film's box office potential would likely be exhausted in two or three weeks. Its long-term prospects looked bleak.
"It's completely front-loaded! There's no staying power!" he lanted. He looked up, but seeing that Matthew was occupied, he fell silent and picked up the newspaper lying on the desk.
"After the explosive debut of the new 007 film, 'Quantum of Solace,' last week, most analysts expected the North Arican box office to quiet down in preparation for Thanksgiving. We were all wrong. The power of the teenage girl audience proved so formidable that it not only launched 'Twilight' to the number one spot but also propelled its opening weekend box office beyond all expectations to a stunning $79.6 million!"
"There is no doubt that 'Twilight' was the undisputed king of the box office this weekend. The film's comrcial success is poised to give smaller studios like Skydance Pictures a significant boost."
Reading this, David felt a wave of relief. After all, with numbers like these, "Twilight" was already guaranteed to turn a profit from its dostic run alone.
So even if the box office numbers continued to plumt, it didn't matter. The film's three-day weekend gross had already surpassed what many ordinary films earn in their entire theatrical run. It was clear that he and Matthew had scored a massive comrcial victory.
Surely, a $79.6 million opening had to be making Paramount Pictures, which had passed on the project, and Summit Entertainnt, which had fumbled the negotiations, sick with regret.
Still, he couldn't get carried away. Matthew had always said that "Twilight" lacked the broad audience base of franchises like "Harry Potter" or "The Lord of the Rings." It was still risky to commit to a multi-film series.
Even now that the first film was a massive success, the sequel was still a gamble.
David suddenly asked, "Won't the terrible word-of-mouth for 'Twilight' create problems for our sequel plans?"
"There will definitely be so negative fallout," Matthew said, setting aside a docunt. "But as long as we hold on to our core audience, the sequels can still be profitable."
He smiled. "The success of 'Twilight' has proven sothing no one can deny anymore: the post-90s generation, the kids everyone still dismisses, have beco a major force in the movie-going market."
David nodded in complete agreent. "You're right about that."
He shook his head again. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. The box office is phenonal, the reviews are terrible, and the actors are suddenly insanely popular. That's the bizarre impression this whole thing leaves
with."
Matthew just smiled. "Actually, I have a prediction for the sequel. I think we'll see a different kind of trifecta."
"What? What kind of trifecta?" David asked.
Matthew replied slowly, "The movies will get worse, the reviews will get worse, and the box office will only get better!"
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